MPH: Mark Hughes on...

News of Michelin's willingness to return to Formula 1 could be the competitive incentive to stop Bridgestone walking away from the sport

Word spread like wildfire around the Sepang paddock: Michelin is willing to return to F1 – under certain conditions, thereby potentially rescuing F1 from its imminent tyre crisis.

We should be grateful it's even prepared to contemplate such a move given the disgraceful way it was hounded out of the category a few years ago. But it would come back only under very specific conditions. Not only would it wish to demonstrate the energy efficiency of its tyres, but for reasons of cost and road car relevance it would have to be with a tyre for 18-inch rims, as already produced for Le Mans. The costly moulds already exist for these.